


CHATTERBOX

by RedundantCollector



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27459781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedundantCollector/pseuds/RedundantCollector
Summary: Shy/awkward reader talks to Charles by the fire. SFW
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	CHATTERBOX

No matter how many times you would tell yourself to leave him alone, that he clearly wasn’t interested in talking to you, you could help but find yourself heading over to him when he sat for some rest. This time he was sat by the fire near the horses at the back of camp. You couldn’t help but wonder if it was to try and avoid you as you grinned when he looked up to see who was walking up to him.

“You ok, Charles?” You asked smiling widely at him, his face unmoved as you sat opposite him.

“Yeah, are you ok Y/N?” He replied, his head nodding towards the fire, his hands playing with some rope he was unravelling mindlessly.

Was it worth carrying on with the conversation? He always gave short or one worded replies to almost everyone, everyone except Arthur or John that is. Maybe he was just a quiet person and preferred to be around people who wouldn’t be too pushy with conversation? Unfortunately that wasn’t how you rolled. Your anxiety and desire to be on people’s good sides would get the best of you and you’d find yourself chattering on to anyone and everyone, even if what you were saying wasn’t the right or interesting thing to say. Another thing that was unfortunate was the shorter the conversations with Charles, the more you pushed yourself to speak to him to find some common ground.

“I’m ok, thanks! – Charles I hope you don’t mind me asking and I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfortable but- do I annoy you? I’m only asking because I know I talk a lot and I know you get frustrated with Sean because he speaks so much and-” You quickly shut your mouth when you saw him shaking his head, his dark eyes starting at the ground, sighing tiredly.

“No you don’t annoy me. I’m just not really one for conversation.” His answer was flat and you couldn’t help but feel that burn in your stomach which made you want to ask again- hell maybe even ten times if he was sure you didn’t annoy him.

He looked up at you and saw your cheeks reddening, clearly unsure of how to respond to him, cracking your fingers to find something to do to alleviate your uncomfortableness. It was quite a sad sight as you had been strolling around camp wanting to talk to people and help out as much as you could. It was obvious you were drawn to him, your cheeks blushing if you made eye contact, stumbling over your words whenever you tried to talk to him with others around.

“You know, you ask a lot of questions about me and my life- how about you tell me about your life?” It was a clear attempt to make you feel better and honestly? It worked.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..............

You spent a few hours discussing your history and how you came to America- and eventually how you fell into the outlaw life. You were unsuspecting to everyone, with an aura of naivety about you you were able to gain the trust of many, and rob them blind without them even suspecting you. It was a lonely life until a few weeks ago when Hosea took pity on you after finding you with your horse collapsed from exhaustion after running from the law. A robbery had gone wrong and you were caught red handed by some folk in Strawberry, your steed served you well until finally all those years of running caught up with it. It was raining, you were clearly distraught, and had nowhere to go. With a few promises to earn your keep, Dutch allowed you to stay and assist with Pearson with cooking. Every few days you’d ride out to Valentine and slowly build the trust of some of the locals, then scope out who was worth spending your extra energy on to see how many goods you could get from them.

You managed to make Charles laugh a few times, your heart feeling as though it was exploding as his nose wrinkled and his teeth shone out. He was so quiet you were sure this was the first time you had ever seen him laugh or even smile! At least there was that, even if he would never be interested in you than more than an acquaintance, you could at least make him laugh.

“Wait so you thought it was a good idea to hide in the closet to be sure they were gone?” He snorted as you blushed in embarrassment.

“It wasn’t a good time! I had the flu and so did they, my head wasn’t working right so I hadn’t anticipated them to stay in bed for two days! God it was awful, by the time they finally left I had forgotten all about the will and just collapsed there and then outside of the closet. There was no justifying why I was there so I just legged it”

The fire was dying and the endless amount of beer you both knocked back was causing you to become drowsy. Your tolerance was nowhere near as good as Charles who was still sat upright in comparison to you slumped against the log, your head resting on the one he sat on.

Slowly he began to slide down it, sitting on the floor with you. You held your breath as he brushed your hair away from your eyes, your body instantly becoming stiff and waking you up.

“You know I have seen you looking at me around the camp” He said, his eyes low as they stared at you.

“Christ am I really that obvious?!” You asked loudly, your embarrassment oozing out as you sat upright and inched away from him, your face hot and pink.

“Shh! You don’t want to wake the others do you?” He said pulling his index finger to his lips. Slowly he began to stroke your hair again. Every part of your body was screaming at you to lean in for a kiss, yet the anxious part of your brain refused to let yourself move. What if this was just the alcohol making him more touchy feely? Everyone gets different when they drink, maybe this was how Charles was when he was drunk, more openly affectionate? If this was the case you would rather him just get up and go to bed than to keep on with this.

“Yes- you are obvious. Karen and Tilly don’t help that they giggle every time I go near them, they almost always call out your name when I walk past”

“I knew you’d notice that, they promised you wouldn’t but they were hardly subtle about it” You said, slowly relaxing to how open Charles was being with you. “So... you don’t mind that I have a bit of a crush on you?”

His rough hands cupped your face and pulled yours into his. His lips were chapped after working in the sun all day with little water breaks, he worked hard all day every day, one of the hardest workers in camp. You wished you’d showed your appreciation more, well at least now you can, right?

“Thank you so much” You breathed before scrunching your eyes shut at the realisation at what you just said. You could feel his hand shake as he tried to keep himself from laughing at you.

“Can we kiss again so I can have a do-over?” You begged, finally opening your eyes to see him smiling softly at you.

“Not a chance”


End file.
